September 25, 2010

Doesn't This Guy Watch CSI?

Two nationally known forensic pathologists are questioning a sheriff’s deputy’s version of how he was shot in the remote desert south of Phoenix, adding to suspicions by some that the incident was a hoax timed to stoke the debate over illegal immigration.

Deputy Louie Puroll of Pinal County told investigators he was following a group of smugglers carrying bales of marijuana on April 30 when he was ambushed by men firing AK-47 rifles. Deputy Puroll said he was grazed by a bullet in the back in what he described as a running gun battle.

The pathologists, Dr. Michael Baden of New York and Dr. Werner Spitz of
the Detroit suburbs, examined photographs of the wound released by the
sheriff’s office. They told The Associated Press on Friday that they had
concluded that the bullet was fired from inches away, not at least 25
yards as Deputy Puroll had said. ...

It is “a close wound, not a distant wound, based on the appearance of
the skin around the wound, which is normally what we forensic
pathologists look at,” said Dr. Baden, a former New York City chief
medical examiner who is currently working for the New York State Police.
“We’re talking inches, not yards.”

Dr. Spitz, a former chief medical examiner of Detroit’s Wayne County and
author of a death investigation textbook, held the same opinion.

“There’s almost no doubt that this is a muzzle-contact-type injury, with
the muzzle flame singeing the skin right where the bullet went by,” Dr.
Spitz said.

When asked if the bullet could have been from 25 yards away, he said, “No, it was not from one yard away.”

Of course, the deputy's boss is backing him and the right wing continues to have "proof" of the danger posed by migrants.